Critter Close-Up
Auditorium Program for All Ages
http://www.tnaqua.org/teachers
Program Description:
This program introduces students to the four basic needs (food, water, shelter, space) that help all organisms
survive and thrive within their habitat. Students will have an opportunity to see, up close, both physical and
behavioral adaptations that allow different organisms to survive in different biomes such as deserts, forests,
and wetlands.
Lesson:
Students learn that habitats aren’t always something strange or exotic, but can be something
as familiar as their own backyard.
Conservation Message:
The more we learn about an organism, the more we recognize and respect its intrinsic value.
Understanding the interconnectedness of animals with their environments can help advance the
protection of not only the environment, but the organism itself.
Curriculum Objectives:
Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama students will apply the following state science standards:
Pre K - 3rd

Describe what animals need in order to grow and remain healthy.

Identify the basic characteristics of living things.

Compare size, shape, structure, and basic needs of living things.

Describe survival traits of living things, including color, shape,
size, texture, and covering
th
th
4 -8

Investigate physical characteristics associated with different groups of animals.

Identify environmental conditions and among organisms in the major biomes.

Construct an explanation for the patterns of interactions observed in different
ecosystems in terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components

Describe biotic and abiotic factors in the environment
9th - 12th

Describe how individual organisms are able to accommodate changes in
the environment.

Describe structural and behavioral adaptations for survival used by predators and prey

Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to assess the interdependence of all
organisms on one another and their environment.

Describe protective adaptations of animals, including mimicry, camouflage, etc.
Critter Close-Up
Activity Sheet
http://www.tnaqua.org/teachers
List the four basic needs all organisms require in a suitable habitat?
1.
2.
3.
4.
What are the two types of adaptations?
1.
2.
What type of adaptation is camouflage?
Behavioral
or
Physical
True or False? Running on two feet is a behavioral adaptation.
Name three adaptations an animal might have that lives in the desert.
1.
2.
3.
Describe an animal that lives in the rainforest. Which features allow it to be successful?
In the space below, draw an animal with these features:
Once the animal is drawn, discuss where you think it might live and why?
Answers can be found by visiting the Tennessee Aquarium Education Department’s website:
http://www.tnaqua.org/teachers
Critter Close-Up
Activity Sheet Answers
http://www.tnaqua.org/teachers
List the four basic needs all organisms require in a suitable habitat?
1.
2.
3.
4.
food
shelter
water
space
What are the two types of adaptations?
1. behavioral
2. physical
What type of adaptation is camouflage?
Behavioral
or
Physical
True or False? Running on two feet is a behavioral adaptation.
Name three adaptations an animal might have that lives in the desert.
1. Big ears
2. Ability to store fat/food energy
3. Ability to burrow under the sand
Describe an animal that lives in the rainforest. Which features allow it to be successful?
Most animals that live in the rainforest have an ability to climb trees, nest in trees, and typically
come in very bright colors. They live in an environment dominated by trees so an ability to adapt to
life in them is essential.
In the space below, draw an animal with these features:
Answers will vary.
Once the animal is drawn, discuss where you think it might live and why?
Answers will vary.